For the Love of the Game..

For class tomorrow I’m going to read this passage from our text “The Faerie Queen”, as I felt it fell nicely into the themes of subjectivity, and faceted identities; which is what I think I’m going to progress into over the semester.

He then deuisde himselfe how to disguise;
For by his mightie science he could take
As many formes and shapes in seeming wise,
As euer Proteus to himselfe could make:
Sometime a fowle, sometime a fish in lake,
Now like a foxe, now like a dragon fell,
That of himselfe he oft for feare would quake,
And oft would flie away. O who can tell
The hidden power of herbes, and might of Magicke spell?
(The Faerie Queene, Book 1 Canto II, 10, Spenser)

So far I’ve deduced that he’s dealing with betrayal, he’s appalled by the witches tricks yet is seduced by the idea of revenge and taking part in such games. A knight, a quest…boys and their video games. This makes me think about the idea of adventure and escaping, voyeurism. The love of arts, entertainment, and the petty games we play with one another, is it all a battle of good versus evil? or simply an arbitrary distraction to occupy a theological mindset until we die? Does it matter? In many ways this reminds me of a Frost poem.